Jimmy Clausen questioned Brian Kelly’s handling of DeShone Kizer during Notre Dame’s loss to Stanford on Saturday and even suggested the quarterback leave for the NFL draft.
While watching Notre Dame lose to Stanford 17-10 on Saturday, Clausen, a former three-year starter for the Irish, questioned Kelly for pulling Kizer after the junior QB threw his second interception of the game.
If I was Kizer I'd want to go in the draft early. Why would I come back with a HC that has no trust in you? Throw 2 ints and get yanked?
— Jimmy Clausen (@JimmyClausen) October 16, 2016
If you trust a QB, you don't pull him! That hurt his confidence worse. Every QB will struggle at one point in their career.
— Jimmy Clausen (@JimmyClausen) October 16, 2016
Kizer had already thrown a pick-six that gave the Cardinal its first points of the game. After he threw his second interception, Kelly put Malik Zaire — another fully capable Irish QB — into the game. Zaire rushed three times for three yards and did not complete a pass in two attempts. Kizer was 14-for-26 for 154 yards and the two interceptions, though he did rush for 83 yards and a score.
Notre Dame has now lost four of five and is 2-5 on the season. Clearly there’s a lot more going wrong for the Irish than the QB play, and things don’t exactly look like they’ll get any easier against Miami and Navy over the team’s next two games. And clearly the frustration is being felt on Kelly’s end.
H/T The Spun
